


Tin Nights

by Giglet



Category: Tin Man
Genre: M/M, rebraining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-08-01
Updated: 2008-08-01
Packaged: 2017-10-03 10:07:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Giglet/pseuds/Giglet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wyatt Cain deals with Glitch, and with Ambrose, and with overthrowing the Witch and rebuilding the O.Z.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tin Nights

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to the terrio and andrealyn for excellent beta!
> 
> (A note about the section headings for the math-phobic: imagine days strung along a timeline. The most important day is Day 0. Before then, each day is negatively numbered, "Day -5" for example. After that day, the days are positively numbered, such as "Day 4". "Day N" is just a day for which the exact number of days since Day 0 isn't specified.)

**The Nth Day of the Second Reign of Queen Lavender Eyes**  
It's not so much that Glitch didn't have complex needs, thought Cain. It wasn't even that Glitch lacked the brain-power for complexities, because DG had been right -- even with half a brain, Glitch was smarter than most people.

It was more, Cain decided, that by the time he'd met Glitch, late in the Witch's reign, the man had been so long on the thin edge of survival that his desires, like everything else, were honed down to their bare essentials. Cain remembered...

 

**Day -5 and -4**  
The sleeping together had started for the sake of sheer survival. When Glitch saved Cain from freezing, the man had stripped off all their clothes and climbed under the covers with him. Cain didn't remember it, himself. Glitch told him about it the next night, when they bedded down on their way to the Witch's tower.

Cain had just planned to lie down, sleep fully clothed, but Glitch fussed around him same as he had all day. Cain wouldn't admit it, but he was hurting, and the woods were dark, strange, and too cold for comfort once they stopped moving. That second night, Glitch had been babbling as he pulled off his jacket, his shirt, his boots, his belt. Cain -- still recovering from the dip in the frozen lake and a full-day's march -- hadn't followed all of it, but he'd gotten the part about sleeping next to each other for safety and to share the warmth. And lying on top of his coat and underneath Glitch's coat did feel good, too good to argue. Only when Glitch threw an arm over his did Cain object.

"No, look, Glitch. I have to be able to get to my gun," he gestured at where it lay under the makeshift pillow. "I need my arms free. You just... you sleep on that side, and I'll sleep on this side, okay?" But Glitch was already asleep, and Cain shrugged his lax arm away easily.

**Day -3**  
The third night, after rescuing DG and Raw and adding Tutor to their mangy band, Cain barely even thought about it when Glitch demanded his coat to make their bed: Cain was busy setting their guard rotation (him, Tutor, Glitch, Raw -- they'd let DG sleep) and praying that he'd soon find Adora and Jeb again.

Maybe thinking of Adora had done it, maybe that was why, when Glitch tumbled back down next to him in the still pre-dawn darkness, Cain had reacted as he had. He'd been awake for all of Tutor's watch, then half-awake when Glitch went to wake up Raw. He didn't know why Glitch thumped an arm down over him -- it could have been a desire to get warm faster, or it could have been that in his loose-limbed shamble, Glitch just didn't think to keep his hands to himself. But Cain woke out of his half-sleep to find Glitch's hand on his crotch, and himself half hard.

Glitch's hand was first relaxed, then exploratory, then frozen -- which must have been when Glitch realized that he was groping Cain. After a moment, it began to move again, more tenderly, but Cain growled, "No" and tossed Glitch's arm off him.

"Why not?" Glitch asked, softly, hand resting now on the point of Cain's hip.

Cain didn't say anything, just waited, still and tense, until Glitch fell asleep. From across the campsite, he could see Raw watching them. It was a long time before he slept.

**Day -2**  
In the Realm of the Unwanted, it was always night. They laid down for a few hours to rest before continuing their search. The emotions swirling in Cain's head and heart were different now: Adora was dead. And he'd caught a glimpse of what Glitch was like before he'd been headcased. That night he needed any comfort he could get: he'd rolled over and pulled Glitch's skinny smelly body to him, rested an arm over his ribcage. This time, Glitch didn't say anything, just drew him in. And Glitch was learning -- his arms were below Cain's, and Glitch's back was to the doorway so that Cain could see it, could easily reach his gun if something dangerous came during the night.

**Day -1**  
The night after that, they were in the rebel camp -- in Jeb's camp -- and safe, or at least safer than Cain had felt in a long time. They were offered warm food, tents, and even blankets for sleeping under.

Glitch, clearly preparing for sleep, stopped dead when he got within a yard of Cain. Then he turned away, wrapped himself up in the loaned blanket, and fell asleep in the corner of the tent. Alone. Cain had no notion what stopped him. But Glitch didn't come back, and Cain didn't go to him. Raw frowned at him, but Cain just got his own blanket to lie down in a quiet spot. Raw humphed and grumbled, but didn't say anything when Cain raised an eyebrow at him.

**The Day of the Eclipse, aka The First Day of the Second Reign of Queen Lavender Eyes**  
The day the Witch was defeated was busy, so busy. It would have been worse without Azkadellia ordering her generals and alchemists and wizards to stand down, but even so, it was a rough day with fighting that lasted well after the suns set.

Finding a place for everyone to sleep was the first challenge. Az drew up plans for quartering the rebels and prisoners before the first sun even set. At long last, Ahamo convinced the Queen to sleep. Cain, as the de-facto leader of the palace guard, convinced the Royals to retreat to a defensible suite and posted sentries outside the door.

Cain had intended to stand guard, on this of all nights, but his rank got in the way.

First, his messenger to the healers came back -- Raw thanked him for his concern, but the Viewers intended to keep working for as long as the injured kept arriving, until the situation stabilized. (Of course, Raw didn't say it like that. But that's what Cain wrote in his report, later.) And his messenger to Glitch had come back without delivering his message. The Royal Advisor (of course, that's what the messenger called him, but in his report, Cain would write "Glitch") with his assistants had been sorting through the worst of the Witch's machinery all evening. He had dispatched them to their rest an hour since, but nobody knew where the Royal Advisor had gone.

It could have just been a glitch, where he got distracted and wandered away and would turn up again in the morning. On the other hand, some Longcoats were still at large, they might have taken him as a hostage -- or worse. Cain roused his men from the barracks, calling for a top-down search of the tower for the Royal Advisor.

It didn't take long to find him.

Glitch was in the brain room. He was obviously exhausted, but still on his feet, leaning his head against the glass of the tank, the zipper on his forehead only inches away from his brain. He looked up when they came in, but he said nothing, neither a greeting nor explanation. His eyes were dark with misery.

The explanation was obvious. And Cain was suddenly, viciously angry at himself for forgetting to set guards on this room. Even the Witch had valued Ambrose's brain more than he had. At least he could fix this now, and no harm done. Cain gave his orders: stand down the search, guards outside this room as well as the Royals' suite, and wake him up at dawn. He'd be spending the night here.

Cain closed the door behind him, and went in to Glitch. This time it was Cain who laid out their coats, Cain who pulled Glitch down, Cain who gave the comfort.

**Day +4**  
On the eve of the day Glitch was to be re-brained, he was half-frantic. He'd made sure that his assistants knew what to do with themselves for the next week, he had spoken to the Queen, to DG, to Raw, even to Jeb, and now he was flapping around the tower like a beanpole-skinny crow, still wearing the bedraggled coat and sole-flapping boots of his wandering days. Glitch had been adamant that his brain be reinstalled as soon as possible and the Queen had backed him up, but it had still taken these days to quell the fighting around the tower, find surgeons, and find time when DG and Az could devote enough magic to complete the procedure. After watching Glitch fidget and wander in circles for hours that evening, Cain finally grabbed him to talk some sense into the man or at least calm him down.

He got them back to their room -- they'd set up a pallet in the brain room -- and behind closed doors before Cain finally asked, "What are you afraid of? What do you think will happen? Why are you so worried about this?"

Glitch was wild-eyed. "Oh, I don't know," and his sarcasm was heavy as a club made of Moratanium. "Just because my disembodied brain has been tortured and abused for years, there's no reason to think that Ambrose might not be sane when he, I, when we wake up. I'm just guessing, since I'm not in our right mind, so to speak," he laughed briefly, but it wasn't funny, "but after not having a body for that long, I'd imagine the first thing Ambrose would want is to spend a few days just screaming."

Cain hadn't thought about it that way, hadn't thought about the re-brained Ambrose being someone other than Glitch, only with more memories. And if this was going to hurt him... "Are you sure you want to do this?" Cain asked.

Glitch looked at him like he was crazy. "That's me in there," he pointed towards the brain in the tank, a big flamboyant movement. "How can you even -- That's me, they stole a piece of me, the alchemists took it and--" he sputtered.

Cain lifted his hands, a pacifying gesture. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry I asked."

Glitch took a breath, then said, slightly more calmly, "But, but, but while I'm still just Glitch, I need to say some things to you."

Cain stood still while Glitch paced around the room, carefully, so he never quite looked at Cain. "You've been a good friend to me since we met, which I know wasn't that long ago, but I'm not so good at remembering things, so it seems a lot longer to me. And all that time, you've been kind, and you've been protecting us -- the princess, I know, but me and Raw as well, and, and, and I don't want to be a burden on you--" and he laughed like that was funny, like he knew that Cain had always considered him a burden, which Cain hadn't, but the Tin Man knew better than to interrupt right then. "--but I think I've fallen a little bit in love with you. And, and, I know this is a bad time, I know that this is a terrible time, but I don't know how we'll feel about you once we're Ambrose again, so this is my last chance, and if you wouldn't mind terribly, Wyatt Cain, I'd like to take you to bed tonight."

Cain had anticipated a lot of things Glitch could say. But he hadn't expected that. He'd thought that if Glitch wanted to have sex, he'd just reach over during the night, and he hadn't. But then, Cain had clearly underestimated Glitch. And Glitch was right, this was a terrible time, with the ache for Adora still so near the surface of his skin, but Glitch was also right that this might be his last chance. Their last chance, maybe.

He took a deep breath, but Glitch cut him off before he could say anything, "I, I -- while I'm still Glitch," he said, looking out the window, "I need to tell you some things, Cain."

Cain said gently, "I think you already did, Glitch."

He whirled around, looked at Cain. "Oh! I did? How did it go?"

Cain smiled. "You were very eloquent." He removed his hat and walked across to where Glitch was standing. If you could see past the rags and confusion -- and Cain had learned to look past them -- you'd see a man standing so straight and brave, someone Cain admired. Despite the heaviness in Cain's heart, no part of him wanted to refuse this. He added, "And I said yes."

It was easy, after that. Cain said something about, "if I can," and Glitch said something about it being the thought that counted (which Cain was pretty sure had never been true of sex, at least not in his life, but Glitch was a strange man with an even stranger life and maybe he believed that). In the last four days, they'd both clearly taken the time to bathe and wash at least some of their clothing, because when they stripped, their clothes didn't form the same malodorous pile that Cain remembered from the wagon. And then there was skin to explore and old scars that Cain resolved not to ask about, although Glitch poked at the most recent scar on his shoulder, and it had healed but was still a little ticklish, and Glitch kissed so intently that Cain felt he was drowning as he followed Glitch down to the pallet.

It was only that one night, but it was sweet. Glitch wore the goofiest grin imaginable in the morning. Cain doesn't regret it.

**Day +5 to the +(N-1)th Day **  
Ambrose was...different. He took a while to adjust, his friends took a while to adjust to him. He looked like Glitch -- at least a little, although the ragged coat and the zipper were the first things to go -- but he didn't talk like Glitch, didn't overshare like Glitch or walk like Glitch, and the eyes looking out at the world were darker, more serious, less forgiving. He'd retreated to his old chambers, spent less time with Cain as he became more involved with his work and old acquaintances. His sense of humor was the same, though. Cain couldn't decide whether that was a blessing or a curse. Sometimes Cain wished he could have Glitch back, but then he would look at Ambrose, healthy and whole and busily rebuilding the OZ, and he would feel rotten for even thinking that. Nearly half an annual passed before Cain was really comfortable around Ambrose.

Over tea one morning (Ambrose drank a lot of tea and ate a lot of carrot cake. Cain had no idea whether Glitch drank tea. So far as he knew, Glitch might never have tried tea.) Ambrose reached across the dining room table to tug on the black mourning band wrapped around Cain's upper arm. He said, "When you're ready to put that away, Wyatt, come see me."

Cain narrowed his eyes at Ambrose, trying to determine whether that meant what he thought it meant.

Ambrose smiled very slightly, as unlike Glitch's sweet smile as possible using the same face. "Glitch loved you. And I'd like to get to know you better."

Two mornings after, Wyatt appeared at Ambrose's door, without his mourning band and with a gift of a carrot cake. Not long after that Ambrose made him another proposition -- more gracefully worded than Glitch's, but with much the same meaning -- and Cain discovered that although Ambrose kissed differently than Glitch did, Cain still felt like he was drowning.

**The Nth Day**  
If Glitch had kinks, Cain never learned about them. He thinks Glitch valued things that made him feel safe, but in Glitch's case, that could hardly constitute a kink. That was just survival.

Ambrose, however, has Glitch's sense of humor and pre-war-Ambrose's upbringing and both of their wartime experiences, and his desires in bed are many and varied. Cain is willing to go along. And Ambrose is willing to go along with the sorts of things that Cain is just recovering enough to think will excite him. It's good to have the luxury of time, time to relax, time to play in bed.

Their relationship grows far more slowly than his and Glitch's did. Cain and Ambrose have plenty of time: they build a relationship the same way they're building the OZ. They're building to last.


End file.
